Knight
Knights are holy or unholy champions, masters of combat and weapons of their deity. Changes The old Paladin became the Knight, so we could more easily adapt it to include an evil version. Since the blackguard was essentially a mirror image Paladin anyway, we decided to fuse it with the original class and have almost like two classes in one. The blackguard is intended more to be an NPC class for enemies of the PCs, but those inclined to play an evil campaign thus have the option. More conservative DMs might decide only to include the Paladin aspect of the class in their game, and that's perfectly fine. *'Mount:' We fixed up the mount a little to make it slightly more like an Animal Companion, in that you can swap it out for a different creature at higher levels. The idea of a paladin atop a pegasus gives us shivers, only slightly more so than a blackguard aboard a nightmare. And don't worry, the monster stats were modified to make them appropriate to the class and balance them against eachother. *'Smite:' We wanted Smite to be a better ability, so you'll notice some upgrades that a knight picks up along the way. *'Dead Levels:' We hated the old Paladin's dead levels later on. The Paladin was very top heavy; there was little to no reason to take the class after 5th level. We've changed that, hopefully. *'Spells:' Like the ranger, we took spells away from the knight, making its abilities more innate than some mastery of divine magic. We wanted to leave spells to the spellcasters. Class Features *'Moral Path:' At first level, a knight chooses a moral path based on his alignment. A Lawful Good knight chooses the Path of Righteousness, and is called a paladin. A Lawful Evil knight chooses the Path of Tyranny and is called a blackguard. This choice affects many of their abilities later in their career. The knight class is effectively two classes that are polar opposites. Paladins have an aura of Good whose power is equal to their class level (see detect alignment) and the reverse is true with regards to blackguards and their aura of Evil. *'Unveiling (Su):' A Knight can detect alignment at will, as the spell. Paladins can use this ability only to detect evil while blackguards can only detect good. Their caster level is equal to their class level. *'Smite (Su):' Once per day, a knight may attempt to smite evil (paladin) or smite good (blackguard) with one normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per knight level against a target of the correct alignment. If the knight accidentally smites a creature that is not of the correct alignment, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day. At 5th level, and at every five levels thereafter, the knight may smite evil one additional time per day, as indicated on table, to a maximum of five times per day at 20th level. *'Lay On Hands (Su):' Beginning at 2nd level, a knight with a Charisma score of 12 or higher can wield positive (paladin) or negative (blackguard) energy. Positive energy heals living creatures and damages undead, while negative energy heals undead and damages living creatures. Each day she can wield a total number of hit points of damage equal to her knight level × her Charisma bonus. A knight may choose to divide her points among multiple recipients, and she doesn’t have to use it all at once. Using lay on hands is a standard action. Using lay on hands in melee to damage a foe requires a successful melee touch attack and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity The knight decides how many of her daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching a creature. *'Inspired Aura (Su):' A knight of 3rd level or higher radiates an Inspired Aura. Paladins become immune to fear and grant a +4 morale bonus to saving throws vs. Fear to all allies within 10 feet of her. Blackguards radiate a malign aura that causes enemies within 10 ft. to suffer a -2 penalty to all saving throws. *'Turn/Rebuke Undead (Su):' At 4th level, a knight can channel positive or negative energy to turn or rebuke undead. A paladin turns while a blackguard rebukes. A knight may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier, and this ability otherwise functions as a cleric's of a level equal to the knight's class level minus 3. *'Divine Health (Ex):' Knights of 4th level or higher become immune to all forms of disease, including supernatural or magical diseases. *'Knight's Mount (Ex):' At 5th level, a Knight can call a special mount to serve him. At the DM's option, a knight may be required to complete a special quest or adventure to acquire this mount, or may simply require him to complete a ritual that lasts 24 hours. At 5th level, this mount can be either a heavy warhorse, a light warhorse, or a warpony. Additional animals may be available at the DM's option. As the Knight advances in levels, the mount gains additional abilities as determined by his category, as defined by the table below. As part of this ability, the Knight also gains the Mounted Combat feat if he does not already have it. When a knight reaches a level where his mount advances in category, he can instead switch his mount for a different creature. At the DM's option, switching mounts might entail many of the same hardships (quests, rituals) as getting their first mount. The new mount rises in categories just like the old one, but counts as a certain amount of levels lower. See the accompanying table. For example, at 10th level, a Knight may either choose to have his warhorse gain the abilities on the Category 2 line, or he may swap out his warhorse for a Celestial Warhorse that has the abilities of a category 1 mount. At 15th level, a knight might have a warhorse with category 3 abilities, a celestial warhorse with category 2 abilities, or a pegasus with category 1 abilities. A special mount's abilities are described below: **''Bonus HD:'' Extra Hit Dice (as appropriate to the mount's type), each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. Extra Hit Dice improve the mount’s base attack and base save bonuses as per their type. The mount gains additional skill points or feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice, but not additional ability score increases. **''Natural Armour Bonus:'' Treat this bonus as an enhancement bonus to the mount's existing natural armour bonus. **''Strength Adjustment:'' Add this figure to the mount's strength score. **''Intelligence:'' The mount's intelligence is set to this amount. If this would result in a decrease, ignore this ability. **''Empathic Link (Su):'' The knight has an empathic link with her mount out to a distance of up to one mile. The knight cannot see through the mount’s eyes, but they can communicate empathically. Note that even intelligent mounts see the world differently from humanoids, so misunderstandings are always possible. Because of this empathic link, the knight has the same connection to an item or place that her mount does, just as with a master and his familiar. **''Improved Evasion (Ex):'' When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a mount takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage if the saving throw fails. **''Share Saving Throws:'' A knight's mount uses the knight's base save bonuses or his own, whichever are better. The mount uses its own ability score modifiers and does not benefit from the knight's personal saving throw bonuses. **''Improved Speed (Ex):'' The mount's base speed increases by 10 ft. **''Spell Resistance (Ex):'' A mount’s spell resistance equals its master’s knight level + 5. *'Divine Protection (Su):' A knight of 6th level or higher may add his Charisma bonus to all saving throws. *'Master the Sickness (Su):' A knight of 7th level or higher has power over disease. A paladin can cure the sick with his touch as a standard action, as the remove disease spell. A blackguard can instill sickness into his enemies with a touch as a standard action, as the contagion spell. The knight's caster level is equal to his character level, and the saving throw DC if applicable is equal to 10 + half the knight's level + the knight's Charisma modifier. *'Improved Smite (Su):' At 8th level, a knight's smite ability improves. He may choose to make any smite attack a Fearful Smite, which has a chance of instilling fear into its target. Any creature hit with a Fearful smite attack must succeed at a Will saving throw equal to 10 + half the knight's level + the knight's Charisma modifier or be shaken for 3 rounds, in addition to the standard effects of a smite. *'Healing Touch/Debillitating Touch (Su):' At 9th level, a knight's touch can heal grievous wounds or instill a debillitating pain. A paladin's touch can remove ability damage as per the lesser restoration spell. A blackguard's can instead debillitate a target with a successful melee touch attack as a standard action, dealing 1d4 points of damage to any ability score of the blackguard's choice. The caster level for such an effect is equal to the knight's class level. *'Lead the Charge (Ex):' Whenever a knight charges, all the attack rolls his allies make before the start of his next turn gain a +4 morale bonus, if they attack the target of the knight's charge. This charge can be on foot or mounted. *'Embodiment of Faith (Su):' Any attack made by a knight of 13th level or higher is treated as aligned to match his alignment for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. Paladins' attacks are treated as Good aligned, and Blackguards' attacks are treated as Evil aligned. *'Greater Smite (Su):' At 14th level, a knight's smite ability improves. He may choose to make any normal smite attack a Stunning Smite, which has a chance of stunning its target. Any creature hit with a Stunning smite attack must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw equal to 10 + half the knight's level + the knight's Charisma modifier or be stunned for 3 rounds, in addition to the standard effects of a smite. *'Beacon of Faith (Su):' Once per day, a 17th level knight may act as a beacon of faith to his allies. Using this ability is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and lasts a number of round equal to the knight's Charisma modifier. It is an instantaneous effect that affects a knight's allies within 50 feet of him. Allies within the area (including the knight) gain a +3 divine bonus to attack rolls and weapon damage rolls, +3 divine bonus to saving throws, and 3d6 + the knight's Cha modifier in temporary hit points. *'Unconquerable Smite (Su):' At 18th level or higher, a knight's smite attack improves. Any smite that misses its target is not expended for the day. In addition, any smite overcomes all damage reduction abilities, and deals lethal damage to regenerating creatures, regardless of the damage type typically needed to hurt such a creature. *'Divine Might (Su):' Once per day, a knight of 19th level or higher can infuse his attacks with the power of his deity. A paladin can create an effect similar to dispel evil as the spell, while a blackguard's is similar to dispel good. Caster level is equal to the knight's character level, and the save DC is equal to 10 + half the knight's level + the knight's Charisma modifier. *'Transcendence:' At 20th level, a knight transcends his mortal form to become an agent of his deity. A paladin gains the celestial template, while a blackguard gains the fiendish template. Follow all the standard rules for applying this template, except the knight's level is not adjusted as normal with the template's level adjustment (as this is a class feature). Category:Classes